Just Maybe
by Iceycream7
Summary: Bella is a well rounded girl, good at everything she tries. But when she finds out a dark secret, her whole confidence is shattered. Who will help her piece her life back together and make her good as new?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Bella slowly walked up the steps to her house.

"Thanks so much for dinner." She smiled over at Kyle.

"Anytime." He winked at her. Then his phone rang. "Hello?" he answered quickly. "Oh sure, I'll be there in five." He nodded and hung up.

"Who was that?" Bella asked him as he slid his phone back into his pocket.

"Just my mom." He shrugged. "Ok if I leave? It sounded pretty urgent."

"Sure. I have homework to do anyways." She nodded. He leaned in and kissed her gently on the cheek and ran off down the street. She sighed and let herself inside. After hanging her coat up and kicking her shoes off, she trotted into the living room to find her mom. But what she found was Sawyer sitting on her couch. "Sawyer!"

"Hey Bella." He stood up.

"You scared me." She put her hand over her chest.

"Sorry." He chuckled. "Nice house."

"Thanks." She looked quickly around at the disorganized living room. Was he being serious, or trying to be funny? "Ummm, why are you here?" she asked as she tossed her purse down onto a chair.

"Didn't we say we'd meet tonight so you could help me finish that math assignment?" he looked at her expectantly.

"Oh Sawyer!" she smacked her hand to her forehead. "I completely forgot! I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine." He nodded.

"I hope you weren't waiting too long." She sighed.

"Just a few minutes. Your mom said you wouldn't be much longer." He replied.

"Do you still have time?" she pulled out her phone and checked the time.

"We don't have to do it tonight." He shoved his hands deep into his pockets. "We could find another time."

"No no." she shook her head. "That would be the third time we'd have to reschedule." She had offered to help him with his math when she noticed he had been having trouble with it. She wasn't a math genius, but was smart enough to help him get better grades. They had made plans for Monday, but she had backed out due to her cousin falling and spraining her wrist and Bella had to go see her. They had planned for Wednesday but Bella forgot that she had promised Pepper a shopping day for a homecoming dress. They had scheduled today, Thursday, and she had forgotten and made a date with Kyle.

"I can go." He bent down to scoop up his backpack.

"Hold it." She stepped over and zipped his backpack back up. "I have homework to do too. I can help you while I do mine. It's fine. I promise."

"If you insist." He shrugged.

"I do insist. Now let's go." She pointed up the stairs. He nodded and started for the second floor. "Mom!" she called into the kitchen. "I'm home! Could you bring Sawyer and I some snacks?!" Then she grabbed her purse off the chair and followed Sawyer up to her room.

"Big room." Sawyer looked around as they tossed their stuff onto the chairs and sat down to work.

"Thanks." She smiled and cracked open her history book. Sawyer pulled out his math book and a few pages of homework fell out. "It would help first off if you kept more organized." She advised.

"Organization is my middle name." he replied sarcastically.

"Do you even have a binder?" she looked through his backpack which was overflowing with loose sheets of paper.

"A what?" he gave her a look.

"You know those things you….oh nevermind." She shook her head and pointed to the math book. "One thing at a time. What section didn't make sense?"

"Section 7-6." He sighed. "I can't tell the difference between a permutation and a combination."

"Oh you're working on probability?" she let her eyes scan the page to familiarize herself with the section. She had completed this section a week ago.

"Trying to." He ran his hands through his hair.

"It's all about how you look at it." She tried to get him to focus. "You don't have to be really good at math to do these problems. You just have to picture it in a way that you'll understand."

"And that would be….." he gave her a clueless look.

"How about football." She stood up. "Alright now you stand up too." She held out her hand and yanked him up. "Ok, first we'll demonstrate a combination."

"Please keep it simple." He pleaded.

"I'll try." Bella giggled. "Ok. Let's say there's a football team and they need three players. You can arrange the players any way you want and it won't make a difference." She yanked Sawyer across the room. "So if someone picked you, Troy, and me, they could arrange us anyway on the team and we would still be three players. No positions, just three players."

"I'm getting this far." Sawyer nodded.

"Good." Bella clapped her hands. "Now a permutation is a little different. Let's say the same team needs three players, but there are three different positions open: a quarterback, a wide receiver, and a running back. If I was put in as the quarterback, the only things you could be would be a running back or receiver. So order does matter because it changes the options for the other people."

"I still don't get it." Sawyer shook his head.

"If you wanted to be quarterback, but I was, you only have those two choices left. So then you wanted to be running back but Troy got that. Now you're stuck with wide receiver. That's the difference. A combination can be arranged anyway, but a permutation means that order matters and where you put people makes a difference for everyone else. With the combination, there were no positions, we were all the same, just on the team. But with the permutation, we were different and some players got positions that affected what the other players got." Bella sucked in breath. "Did that help?"

"I think it did." Sawyer looked like he was thinking.

"Ok let's try a math one now." Bella suggested. She turned around and started heading back to the books but Sawyer stopped her.

"Bella?" he touched her arm. Bella turned and looked back at him. "Thanks."

"Sure." She shrugged. "No big."

"Most girls don't really want to help with this kind of stuff. Or explain it in ways that I can understand." He gave her a half smile.

"I don't see why." Bella held up her hands. "You're funny, cute, and not as dumb as you think." She dropped her hands back to her side and sat down to finish her history homework. Sawyer smiled to himself. Cute? Well this night definitely wasn't the worst ever. "Come try a problem now." Bella called him over and pointed to his book. "I'm fine helping you but I don't want to be up all night."


	2. Mix Up

Chapter Two

"Bella!" Pepper called across the hall to Bella as Bella walked into school. "Bella!"

"Hey Pepper." Bella smiled and walked over.

"I heard you had another date with Kyle last night." Pepper squealed.

"I did." Bella smiled.

"He really likes you." Pepper nodded. "Do you think you guys will become an item?" she gushed.

"I hope so." Bella sighed. "But I don't know what he feels. Our dates have been friendly and civil, not filled with passion or anything. I think he's just testing the waters."

"I heard he kissed you goodnight." Pepper added.

"Only on the cheek. Though I do hope he is my first kiss." Bella whispered. "Wait. How did you know he kissed me goodnight?"

"I called your neighbor." Sophie walked up. Bella turned around.

"You called Mr. Halloway?" Bella laughed. "To ask about me?"

"Yep. He's good for information." Sophie giggled.

"I can't believe you were snooping on me with my own neighbor who is sixty years old." Bella shook her head. "You two are crazy." She put her arms around Sophie and Pepper.

"Hey Bella!" Troy and Sawyer were walking over.

"Hey guys." Bella smiled and waved. "What's up?"

"What class do you guys have next?" Sophie asked.

"I have English." Troy shuddered.

"Oh good!" Sophie piped up. "Can you help me carry my poster to my Latin class? Latin is on the way to English."

"I don't think so." Troy tried to walk off but Sophie stepped in his path.

"Help me, or I'll hurt you." She growled.

"Show me the poster!" he cried and walked off with Sophie.

"Well I have math." Sawyer sighed.

"You have that big test today, right?" Pepper asked.

"Yep." He tried to smile. "And thanks to Bella I might actually score well."

"It wasn't all me." Bella smiled. "Sawyer just doesn't believe he's that smart. But he knows his stuff. I know you'll do great, Sawyer."

"Thanks." He waved and jogged off down the hall.

"I didn't know you were still tutoring him." Pepper said as she and Bella strolled to their lockers.

"He feels more confident doing his homework with someone around to help." Bella explained. "But he's made great progress."

"You really think he can get a good grade on that test?" Pepper sounded skeptical.

"I think he can get a B." Bella nodded. "He just needs to relax."

"Quick!" Pepper cried, making Bella drop her books. "We're gonna be late for Chemistry again!" she grabbed Bella's wrist and yanked her down the hall. "I will not get detention for being late." Pepper cried.

"I'm with you on that!" Bella agreed and they ran off down the hall together. When they reached Chemistry class, they hurriedly took their seats and tried to catch their breath just as the bell rang.

"Good morning class." Mrs. Jenks quieted the class. "Today we will be discussing chemical reactions in different scenarios. If you will all open your books to page 53, we can get started." Bella reached into her pink, sparkly backpack and felt around for her book. Instead she pulled out a calculator.

"This isn't mine." Bella looked at the plain black calculator. It was the same style as hers but hers was purple and blue. "I don't anything this color."

"Who's is it?" Pepper wondered.

"Sawyer!" Bella cried, suddenly remembering. "It's his!"

"How'd you get it?" Pepper asked.

"Maybe I put his in my bag on accident when we were tutoring." Bella thought. "His test!" she jumped up. "He needs it for his test!" By now the whole class was looking at her.

"Miss Bella, is there a problem?" Mrs. Jenks asked.

"I have something that another student needs for a test." Bella explained hastily. "Is there anyway I could take it to them?"

"I don't want you missing class." Mrs. Jenks sounded unconvinced.

"I'll be super speedy." Bella promised.

"If you miss anything, it is your fault." Mrs. Jenks reminded.

"Of course." Bella nodded. "I'll be right back!" and she dashed out of the room and down the hall. The halls were mostly empty as she sprinted through the school and towards the math department. She searched the door numbers for math 2 and stopped at Mr. Sands' room. She caught her breath and straightened her skirt and slowly let herself in. As she walked in, twenty heads turned to the back to look at her.

"May I help you?" Mr. Sands stood up from his desk. "My students are taking a test."

"Sorry." Bella grimaced. She hadn't meant to draw this much attention. "Sawyer," she turned to find Sawyer in the sea of students, "I have your calculator. It was in my bag." She held it up and Sawyer stood up. "There you are." She smiled. "I must've taken yours on accident last night." Immediately the kids started buzzing. Bella had said 'last night'. Had they been on a date? Rumors would spread like wild fire. She would have to make sure Kyle didn't get a wrong idea.

"Thanks, Bella." Sawyer smiled and took the calculator. "See ya at lunch."

"See ya." She waved and started to back out of the room. "Sorry to interrupt." She apologized.

"Goodbye." Mr. Sands' waved her out of the class. She giggled to herself and shut the door behind her. She'd kill herself if she had a teacher like Mr. Sands'. She turned back down the hall and headed back to Chemistry.


	3. Official

Chapter Three

The sun was out and the sky was clear and the air was fresh. That was a first for Texas. The fresh air part.

"It's as warm out as a cow's milk fresh from the utter." Sawyer remarked as he walked down the sidewalk with Bella. She gave him a look. "Nice weather." He winked.

"Much better." She nodded. "So how'd that test go?"

"Bella, your tutoring has been helping so much! The test was pretty easy." He sounded satisfied.

"Glad to help." She smiled.

"Bella!" Bella turned to see Kyle jogging up to her.

"Hey Kyle!" she blushed as he caught up to them. "What's up?"

"Hey." he hugged her as she slowed down. Sawyer stopped with her. "I was actually looking for you."

"Me?" she looked down at her feet and then back up at him. "Really?"

"Yeah." He took her hand. "I was thinking about taking you out to a nice dinner. You know a real date." Bella heart leapt inside her.

"A real date." She breathed.

"Tonight." Kyle added.

"Tonight?" Bella's mind came back to reality. "But Sawyer and I-" she turned to look back at Sawyer. They had a study session tonight. She wasn't going to ditch him again. He was her teammate. And he had been doing so well in math. He gave her a look. She shook her head. He was telling her to go on the date.

"Everything ok?" Kyle looked confused.

"Well see I actually-" Bella started then Sawyer stepped in,

"Would love to go out with Kyle tonight."

"What?" Bella looked up at Sawyer.

"Why shouldn't you?" Sawyer asked. "You don't have any plans." What was he doing? She was sure they had made study plans.

"But I thought we-" Bella looked from Sawyer to Kyle.

"Sh sh." Sawyer put his finger to her lips. She crossed her eyes as she looked down at his finger. "Bella would love to." Sawyer looked over to Kyle.

"Great." Kyle smiled.

"As for me, I have plans with my couch and the TV. Sorry ladies, I'm taken." Sawyer laughed. "But you two have fun." Sawyer pushed Bella over to Kyle.

"Sawyer, you can come too." Bella piped up. Sawyer looked at Kyle's face and saw an uncomfortable expression pass over it.

"No no." He shook his head. "This is a special date for you and Kyle. Me coming would be like finding a cow pie under your picnic blanket." They both stared at him. "Meaning no. No I'm not going." He helped them along.

"Bella, I'll walk you home so you can get dressed up all nice." Kyle turned to Bella.

"What I'm wearing won't work?" she looked down at her clothes.

"It's pretty fancy." Kyle declared.

"I guess we could stop by my house." Bella shrugged. "I'll see you tomorrow Sawyer." She waved to Sawyer.

"See ya, Bella." He nodded and turned to walk back to his house. As he walked away, he looked back and saw Bella looking over her shoulder at him.

"Thank you." She mouthed the words as she walked off arm in arm with Kyle. He smiled and nodded. She deserved a nice date. They could study any time. He turned back around and let the sun warm his back as he made his way home.

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Kyle had been right. The restaurant was fancy. Bella was very glad she had changed and primped her hair a little. Everyone, even the waiters, were in very fine attire. They were seated at their own little private table with lots of space and quiet.

"This is so nice." Bella looked around.

"I needed to make things official." Kyle explained.

"Official?" Bella jumped at the word. Could it really be? Was Kyle going to ask her to be his girlfriend? She had been waiting forever!

"An official dinner of congratulations for making the football team." He held up his glass for a toast.

"Oh." Bella tried not to sound disappointed. "Oh yeah." She held up her glass to his and clinked them together.

"And…." Kyle hushed his voice, "And making our relationship official." He looked down. Bella wanted to jump up and scream. Had he just said their 'relationship'?! She looked at him and saw him looking at her. Oh! She was supposed to say something. He was waiting for her to say 'yes' or 'no' or 'let's wait'. And she was just sitting here staring at him like an idiot.

"Kyle." She breathed. "I don't know what to say. Of course I'd love to make things official. I was hoping you'd ask."

"Good." He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Your menus." A waiter gently laid the delicate menus down in front of them and a small basket of thin slices of bread. He bowed and left them alone again.

"This place must be so expensive." she was worried about the money.

"I've got it covered." He promised. "Just order what you want."

"That's so generous of you." she smiled over at him. "But I don't want to waste your money."

"It's not a waste if it's on you." He took Bella's hand from across the table. "My beautiful girlfriend." Wow. That had escalated fast. He was settling into this whole dating thing very quickly. Bella calmed her heart rate and gave him a peppy smile.

"You're too sweet." She squeezed his hand and then let go to get herself a piece of bread.

"You look so great tonight, Bella." Kyle complimented her whole get-up. She had tried very hard to look her best. She had had a feeling that something big was behind this dinner. And she had been right. Kyle had asked her out officially. That was big.

"Thanks." She smiled bashfully down at her dress.

00000000000000000000000000000000

"That was such a good meal." Bella sighed loudly as she stepped out of the restaurant with Kyle.

"I'm glad you liked it." He laughed. "You look a little sleepy." He added.

"I'm so full. It's also been a long day." Bella explained.

"Let's get you home." He offered. "But first, let's get a picture together. Our first picture as an official couple."

"Perfect idea!" she agreed. Kyle asked another guy on a date with his wife to take a picture of he and Bella.

"Sure." The guy held up Kyle's phone.

"Make sure to get the restaurant sign in." Kyle reminded. Bella thought that was a little weird but scooted to the right a little more so the sign would be in.

"Cheese!" she and Kyle smiled as the camera flashed. They laughed and thanked the couple for taking the picture.

"This night has been perfect." She fell into step with Kyle as he walked her home.

"Sure has." He agreed as he slipped his arm over her shoulders. She leaned her head on his shoulder and relaxed. Kyle was amazing. And now he was hers.


	4. Who Is 'Mrs Right?

Chapter Four

Bella was watching TV in the living room when she heard a knock on the front door. Her mom had gone out shopping leaving Bella alone and with nothing to do. She sighed and rolled off the couch and trudged to the door.

"Who is it?" she called. Just being safe.

"Pizza delivery!" a voice called.

"I didn't order a pizza." Bella opened the door. Sawyer was standing on her porch.

"I know. So you got me instead." He winked. Bella chuckled and put her hand on her hip.

"Well I didn't order you either." She laughed.

"Good news." Sawyer sucked in his breath. "Can I come in?"

"Sorry no." Bella rolled her eyes. "Household rules. No boys alone with me in the house." She stepped outside and shut the door behind her. "Come on." She led him over to the porch swing and they sat down. "What's the news?" Sawyer smiled and pulled a paper from his backpack.

"Here." He handed it to Bella. It was his math test. And it was graded. And at the top was a big 'B+'.

"Sawyer!" Bella cried. "That's awesome! Congratulations!" Bella jumped up and hugged him.

"I really came over to thank you." Sawyer explained after she let go of him.

"Thank me?" Bella asked.

"I couldn't have gotten this grade without you." He smiled.

"It was all up there." Bella tapped on his head then ruffled his curly hair.

"Yeah." He snickered. "I guess." They both grew quiet and a relaxing silence fell over the both of them. "So you and Kyle are official now." Sawyer broke the silence.

"Yeah." Bella beamed. She looked so happy. "It was so unexpected. But I'm really happy."

"It's about time that bucko stepped up and asked you out. He was acting like such a coward." Sawyer folded his arms. "He treats you right?"

"He's great." Bella nodded.

"Then I approve." Sawyer smiled.

"Approve?" Bella raised her eyebrows. "Do I need your approval?"

"Just thought since your dad isn't here," Sawyer started, "that you need some guy around to make sure you're bein treated like you deserve." Bella smiled and her eyes glittered as she blinked rapidly to get the tears away. Her dad. He would've been so scared that Kyle would hurt her. And here Sawyer was taking the job into his hands. "If that's ok." Sawyer added with a concerned look on his face. Bella could tell he wasn't used to tears.

"It's perfect." She smiled and hugged him again. "Thanks."

"And if he hurts you," Sawyer warned, "I still have that angry cow."

"Good." Bella laughed.

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"Why didn't you tell me?" Bella asked Pepper.

"I didn't think it was that big a deal!" Pepper cried. Pepper and Bella were in the girls' locker room having a crisis moment. Luckily, no one was around to hear it.

"You thinking Sawyer had a crush on you is a big deal!" Bella retorted.

"It was during the storm and we both just clicked." Pepper replied. "But I don't like him. I mean, he seemed so perfect and stuff, but it was the storm that scared me and the things he said all of a sudden just sounded perfect."

"But what if he does actually like you?" Bella asked.

"What if he does?!" Pepper jumped up and down.

"Calm yourself." Bella sighed.

"Sawyer has a crush on me!" Pepper sang.

"We don't know for sure." Bella grumbled.

"Why are you so grumpy?" Pepper walked over to Bella.

"No reason." Bella huffed and walked out of the locker room.

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"I don't like Pepper." Sawyer spoke up. Bella looked up from her homework. She and Sawyer were sitting on the living room floor in front of the fireplace with a small fire going. Her mom was upstairs doing laundry and Bella and Sawyer were doing homework.

"Thanks for sharing." Bella gave him a confused look.

"I thought you might like to know," Sawyer added, "since Sophie called and told me that you found out about Pepper and me during the storm."

"No big deal." Bella shrugged. She was a good actress. She could put on the 'I don't care' look. "Pepper was pretty happy."

"She's really nice, but I happen to know that someone else likes her." Sawyer pulled his calculator out.

"Who?" Bella looked up from her Latin worksheet.

"Secret." Sawyer wiggled his eyebrows.

"Pepper would be excited to know." Bella reminded him.

"Pepper will find out eventually." Sawyer laughed. "Secrets never stay secrets for long."

"So true." Bella nodded. They worked for a few more minutes in silence. "So then who is your 'Mrs. Right'?" Bella asked him.

"Haven't found her yet." Sawyer looked at his calculator then quickly wrote down an answer in his notebook. "But I know she's going to be awesome. I can't wait to meet her."

"What if you've already met her?" Bella wondered.

"Huh?" Sawyer looked over at her. Just then he realized how cute she looked sitting there, in her fuzzy owl pajamas and with her big pink glasses on so she could read her work. I loved her glasses.

"Ok totally a girl thing," Bella readjusted herself to get more comfortable so she leaned her back against the couch, "but I think all the time if I've already met the person I'm going to be with for forever."

"Yep definitely a girl thing." Sawyer nodded. Bella let her head down to rest of her knees.

"I think every day about who I'm going to marry and what my kids will be like and what color scheme my wedding might be." Bella gushed. Then she stopped herself. "But you guys probably don't think about that stuff."

"Well," Sawyer sat up straighter, "no we don't think about our weddings or color schemes. But I do think about my future. I think about the girls I'll date and the one that will be above all the others and the one I'll see walking down the aisle. I think about my kids. You have no idea how much I want to hear a kid call me 'dad'." Bella looked at Sawyer as he explained.

"That's deep." Bella croaked as Sawyer finished.

"Not something I walk around sharing every day." Sawyer shrugged.

"You're a really sensitive guy." Bella said as the realization hit her.

"Am not." Sawyer coughed loudly.

"You are." Bella laughed as she saw Sawyer blush. He quickly stood up and threw all of his things into his backpack.

"I should be going." He announced and made his way to the door.

"If you must." Bella sighed and walked over to the door with him.

"See ya tomorrow, Bella." Sawyer waved and headed out the door. As he was walking down the front path, Bella stopped him.

"Sawyer!" she called. He turned. "Girls like sensitive guys."

"Is Kyle sensitive?" he asked. Bella thought for a minute.

"Not really. But hanging out with you makes up for that." She smiled and closed the door.


	5. The True Kyle

**This chapter is supposed to enrage and creep you out. Just making Kyle seem a little worse. Kyle is bad and Sawyer is good. Role with this. Sawyer will be her hero. I just need these parts to help the story along.**

Chapter Five

"Kyle?" Bella mumbled. They were sitting on the couch, half asleep, on a late Friday evening. The TV was still playing a movie they had started but soon lost interest in.

"Yeah?" he croaked.

"Why do you like me?" she wondered. He grunted as he shifted closer to her. His hand came gently down on her shoulder.

"Because you're beautiful." He smiled. Bella gave an inward sigh. She had hoped he would've said something a little different. Maybe he could've said something about her personality or her smart brain or her caring nature or even her football skills. Beautiful was good too though.

"Thanks." She gave him a tight smile.

"Now why do you like me?" he whispered as he began to inch closer.

"Ummm." Bella's voice faded off as she saw him get closer and closer. His nose touched her neck and she jumped. "What are you doing?" her voice cracked.

"Relax." Kyle chuckled. "I was only exploring." Bella didn't like the sound of that. "You were saying why you liked me." He reminded her.

"Oh yeah." She refocused her mind.

"Your skin is warm." Kyle murmured and suddenly she felt his lips brush along her neck.

"I need a drink." She stood up suddenly, letting Kyle fall into the place where she had been sitting. "Sorry." She trotted down to his kitchen and tried to breathe. She opened the fridge to grab a drink so he wouldn't be suspicious if she came back without one. Bella had really only wanted to come in to collect her thoughts. He was going down a road that she had never considered: the physical one. She had never pegged Kyle as the physical type but now that she had seen this side of him, he was ever so slightly less appealing. "Get it together." She snapped at herself. "Kyle is great, you're just scared."

"Scared of what?" Kyle asked as he entered the kitchen. Bella jumped. "I was thirsty too." He explained.

"Oh nothing." She waved off the idea of her being scared.

"Good because I like it when you are strong and fearless." His whisper voice was coming back and he had cut off the space from in between them. He put his arm out and rested it on the counted, cutting Bella's exit off on the left. Then his other arm came out and cut her off on the right. Then he walked forward until their bodies were almost touching. "I love you Bella."

"You what?" she stuttered. She tried to breathe. He loved her. That was too much. She knew for a fact that she didn't love him. This was too soon. They had just started dating and now he was acting like they were going to get married.

"I said I love you." Kyle repeated. Bella stood there in a panicked silence. "Don't you have something to say to me?" Kyle asked. He took another step forward and moved a hand up to her cheek. "Don't you love me?" he stepped forward and planted a kiss on her cheek. She backed up.

"Kyle….I-I-I don't know." She put her hands up to keep him from coming closer.

"You don't know?" he stopped.

"I mean we're so young. I know I like you. I'm dating you." She laughed a little. But he didn't laugh.

"I thought you loved me." He huffed.

"Maybe I will." She sighed. "But let's just keep it casual for now."

"Bella if you really want to be my girlfriend, you have to give me everything."

"I have to go." She stammered.

"We aren't done!" Kyle cried as he followed her into the living room. "You can't have me and keep everything to yourself. You give me everything or you're out."

"Everything?" Bella voice wavered.

"Everything." Kyle's eyes ran over her body.

"Then I'm out." Bella turned and walked over to the front door.

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"You broke up with him?!" Sophie cried. Sophie and Pepper were over with Bella after Bella had texted them about the break up.

"Yeah." Bella sighed. "I didn't know what to do. I had to!"

"Duh!" Pepper cried. "He was being a total creeper! He wanted sex?"

"That's the impression I got." Bella shuddered.

"It'll be alright." Sophie patted Bella's back gently. "He doesn't deserve you. You need a guy who will treat you right."

"Let me know when you find one of those." Bella scoffed.

"And you just left his house?" Pepper asked.

"Pretty much." Bella nodded. "I told him I was done with him then I walked out."

"Strong girl." Sophie sounded proud. Bella didn't feel proud. She felt useless. So Kyle hadn't genuinely liked her. All he saw her as was a hot, play thing. Did every boy see her like that? Hopefully her football teammate guys didn't. They knew she had true spirit.

"Look guys, I appreciate the moral support, but I'd rather just be alone now." Bella admitted to her friends.

"Call if you need us." Pepper offered and they left quietly. Bella flopped back on her bed. The whole school would hear about their break up tomorrow. They just wouldn't know the real reason the break up had happened. In fact, Kyle would probably play it off as all Bella's fault. Perfect. Just perfect.

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"You and Kyle broke up?" a voice asked from behind Bella's locker. That was probably the twentieth person who had asked that day.

"Ugh, yes!" she cried and slammed her locker shut to see Sawyer standing there. "Sawyer!" she cried. "Sorry I didn't know it was you!"

"It's alright." He gave her a cheeky grin. "What happened?" he asked referring to the break up.

"Just found out that we really had nothing in common." Bella lied. "He wants things that aren't so important to me and I guess it was relationship-defining because we called it off."

"That's too bad." Sawyer gave Bella a sad smile.

"I'll manage." She smiled and hid the discomfort she was feeling deep inside her soul. Kyle had been looking at her all day. He'd posted about their break up letting girls know he was free. Typical Kyle. But other than that, the details had remained unsaid. And now he was staring at her and it even felt like following. But that must just be her imagination.

"What class do you have next?" Sawyer asked as they walked down the hall together.

"Gym." She huffed. "Normally it's fine but I'm not in a gym mood today."

"You could skip." Sawyer offered. They both stopped walking and looked at each other, then burst out laughing.

"Good one." Bella giggled. "I needed that." Bella never skipped classes.

"Well I have Economics." Sawyer rolled his eyes.

"Ok that sucks even worse than gym." Bella admitted. They came to their parting area. The hall split two ways, one to the athletic department and one to academics.

"Hey so are we still on for studying tonight?" Sawyer caught her arm before she walked away.

"Oh!" Bella had forgotten. "Sure!"

"You forgot." Sawyer saw her cover up.

"But it's fine." Bella added. "So come on over. We could make some cookies too. I've had a craving for them and it's always easier to make them with another pair of hands."

"Sounds great." He nodded and they parted ways. Bella smiled to herself. Then a voice startled her.

"I miss you." Kyle walked out of the shadows.

"I'll be late." Bella felt a wave of panic capture her and she turned to walk away. She felt a heavy hand come down on her shoulder and yank her back. A stinging pain ran through her arm. "Ouch!" she cried.

"I wasn't finished talking." He turned her to face him.

"Well I was." Bella growled and turned away. Kyle's hands reached out and pulled her back again.

"I want you back Bella." Kyle's voice got soft.

"Well I don't want to come back."

"You can't still be mad at me." Kyle clucked his tongue. "Bella I just don't want you to hold anything back."

"The fact that you say things like that make me positive that my choice to dump you was smart." Bella put a hand on her hip. "Now leave me alone."

"Get to class!" the hall monitor stuck her head out the door and barked at them.

"We'll finish this later." Kyle whispered in her ear and pushed her off down the hall. Bella felt his eyes on her back until she rounded a corner and made her way to the locker room. She was getting worried.


	6. Should I Be Worried?

Chapter Six

"Bella?" Sawyer was waving his hand in front of Bella's face.

"Sorry!" Bella cried and brought her mind out of its trance. She had spaced out again. She had been thinking about Kyle. Should she be that worried? Should she tell somebody? Was it that weird?

"Is something wrong?" Sawyer looked worried.

"No!" Bella cried quickly. Sawyer jumped a little. "I mean no." Bella said calmly. "Just been busy and a lot on my mind."

"Well do you think we should just throw these cookies in the oven and go get to work?" Sawyer gestured to the cookie tray which was sitting on her kitchen counter. It was covered in cookie dough balls.

"Good idea." Bella nodded and slid the pan in the oven and set the timer. Then she and Sawyer made their way up to her room.

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"What's the square root of 8?" Sawyer asked.

"Nice." Bella was very distracted again. They had only been at their homework for about twenty minutes and she was worrying again.

"Bella?" Sawyer asked. "Bella? Hello? How about the square root of 80?"

"Sawyer that's great." Bella mumbled.

"I know!" he started to play along. "And the best part was when I joined the dolphins on the trumpets and I had a solo."

"I knew you'd get it." Bella was still totally zoning out. Sawyer chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"And then something weird happened." Sawyer started to have some fun with it.

"Oh."

"You kissed me." Sawyer looked over at her.

"That's really cool." Bella nodded. Sawyer smiled and waited for a few seconds. "Wait what?" Bella's head shot up.

"Welcome back to earth." Sawyer was laughing.

"What were you talking about?" Bella rubbed her head.

"It started out as square roots." He pointed to his math book.

"Was I ignoring you again?" Bella whined. "I'm really sorry, Sawyer."

"You obviously have lots to think about." He shut his math book. "And I want to hear it."

"You want to hear what I'm thinking about?" Bella raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah." Sawyer's head bobbed up and down. "All that girly drama. Makes my life seem so simple." Bella gave him a little shove and he reached over and shoved her back.

"Ouch." Bella murmured under her breath and she lifted her shirt sleeve to look at her shoulder. Her shoulder was bright red with hints of blue like it was starting to bruise.

"Oh cow pies." Sawyer breathed. "I didn't realize-"

"That wasn't you." Bella stopped him. "It was already hurt."

"Well I'm still sorry for touching it." Sawyer grimaced. "What'd you do?" Bella's mind raced. She had to think of something. It really was the bruise from when Kyle had grabbed her in the hall.

"I got hit with a basketball in gym." She breathed a sigh of relief. Good lie.

"Eesh. Sawyer took her arm gently in his hands and rubbed his thumb very softly over it. Bella inhaled loudly when he passed over the bruised part. Sawyer looked down at her. "You should put something on this."

"It will heal." She sighed.

"You're a strong girl, Bella Dawson." Sawyer's eyes met hers. His thumb continued to gently rub the bruise.

"I try to be." She murmured as she lost herself in his eyes.

"Does this hurt?" he pressed gently on the bruise. She squinted her eyes up in pain. "That would be yes." He answered for her. "How about this?" he moved his hand up to a red part and pressed. It stung.

"It stings." Bella gritted her teeth.

"Does this hurt?" Sawyer moved her arm up and down.

"Only a little."

"How about this?" He moved her arm from side to side.

"I'm fine." She giggled.

"Just being safe." He set her arm down gently. "You should get some ice or at least some heat rub."

"Better call the police!" she cried sarcastically. "Bella bruised her arm!"

"You're being snarky." He pointed at her.

"Am not!"

"Are and I don't like snarks." Sawyer laughed.

"Snarks?" Bella giggled. "That is not a word."

"I just made it one." Sawyer put a hand on his hip and tried to sound like a valley girl.

"Well pardon me." Bella stood up and took his hand off his hip. "But your girl style needs some help."

"Well pardon me but you couldn't do a better guy impression." Sawyer waggled his finger.

"Yes I could." Bella challenged him. She stood up and slouched her shoulders and grabbed a baseball cap off a hook by the front door and put it on backwards. Then she messed up her hair, wrinkled her shirt, and sagged her pajama pants down, revealing her spandex underneath. She had great legs. And Sawyer noticed. "Dude are we goin to the movies or what?" she asked in a deep, gruff voice. Sawyer busted up laughing.

"You are one of a kind Bella Dawson." He snickered. She bowed and pulled her pants up and tossed the hat back towards the front door.

"Why thank you." She beamed. "I secretly practice that you know." She joked.

"You are very good." Sawyer's chest was still shaking from small jolts of laughter. Bella walked over to him and looked over his shoulder.

"Square root of what were you asking?" she had remembered his long forgotten question.

"What?" Sawyer turned and their faces came inches away from each other. Her long, blonde curls were flowing around her face and their noses were almost touching. They held the gaze for a moment.

"Hey!" Bella's mom called from the doorway.

"Oh my gosh." Bella stood up quickly and put a hand over her heart. "Hey mom." She was breathing quickly. "You scared me." Sawyer looked down, trying not to blush. He hoped her mom hadn't seen that.

"Hi there Sawyer." Bella's mom walked in and waved to him.

"Hi Mrs. Dawson." Sawyer stood up to shake her hand.

"Such a gentleman." Bella's mom giggled. "I'm gonna go in and snag some cookies. Don't mind me." She made her way back into the kitchen.

"I should go." Sawyer stood.

"Yeah I need a shower." Bella nodded. "Oh hey I needed to ask you…." Bella's voice picked up again.

"Yeah?" Sawyer asked as they made their way to the door.

"Do you think we could study at your house tomorrow?" Bella asked. "I hate to inconvenience your family but my mom having some sort of business meeting here."

"That would be great." Sawyer nodded. "The ranch is kinda far from school though." He added.

"Maybe I could just get a ride straight from school with you?" Bella asked hopefully.

"That could work." Sawyer sounded pleased. "I've been meaning to take you out there sometime."

"My mom should be able to pick me up though." Bella added quickly. "Don't want to make your folks drive too much."

"Cool." Sawyer shouldered his bag as he opened the door to let himself out. "See ya tomorrow." He closed the door behind him. Bella turned away but soon heard the door open again. "Oh and Bella?" Sawyer stuck his head back in.

"Yeah?" she turned back to face him.

"Bring your boots. We can go riding if you want." Sawyer was referring to his horses that Bella had talked about. Bella loved to ride.

"Seriously?!" she cried. "We can ride?"

"Anything you want." Sawyer joked.

"Thanks Sawyer." Bella clapped her hands and jumped up and down. "I can't wait."

"See ya." He waved and walked out leaving Bella smiling to herself and thinking about riding in a huge field on a gorgeous horse with Sawyer.


	7. Kyle's Threat

Chapter Seven

The day had been hot and muggy, making Bella's skin sticky and sweaty. She kept her spare stick of deodorant in her locker and made sure to apply some every other period. She was practically grossing herself out.

"Hey there." Sophie leaned up against the locker next to Bella's as Bella subtly applied the deodorant.

"Hey." Bella grunted as she yanked her shirt back down. "Man this building has air conditioning right?"

"They say so." Sophie was smiling. She had been smart and worn a halter top and shorts and sandals. Bella had worn a maxi skirt and a ruffle blouse.

"You wouldn't know it." Bella slammed her locker shut. "I'm counting the minutes until I can get out of here."

"Same." Sophie agreed and they began to make their way to fifth period class. "So I have something to tell you." Sophie sounded nervous.

"Yeah?" Bella turned her head slightly so she could listen better.

"Yeah." Sophie nodded. "But I don't know how you'll take it."

"Now I'm scared." Bella raised her eyebrows.

"Wellll…." Sophie gave a laugh that sounded more like a hiccup. Then Bella spotted Kyle. He was walking towards them, down the hall.

"Shoot." Bella muttered under her breath. She had been making huge efforts to avoid him ever since their run-in in the hall. He was worrying her.

"Huh?" Sophie heard Bella's noise. She saw Bella duck her head, then looked up to see Kyle coming. "Bella, this is ridiculous. You broke up with him! Why are you so upset when you see him?" Bella sighed. Sophie didn't know half of what had been going on. "Well I'm going to be late." Sophie had stopped in front of her class. Bella hadn't realized they had walked that far.

"But what were you going to tell me?" Bella snapped her mind back to Sophie's earlier statement.

"Too late now." Sophie was inching her way to the door. "I'll have to tell you later." Bella looked up and saw Kyle getting closer. The halls were slowly getting emptier. If Sophie left her, Bella would be open prey for Kyle as the predator.

"Don't go!" Bella grabbed Sophie's arm.

"Bella!" Sophie cried and snatched her arm away. "I have a presentation in this class! Why are you acting so weird?" She turned and flounced into the classroom. Bella watched her only hope of survival disappear into the room, mixing with the sea of students. Now Bella would be alone for the rest of her trek down to the choir room.

"Been avoiding me?" Kyle asked as he closed off the distance between them.

"Why would you think that?" Bella stepped around him and continued down the hall. Unfortunately, Kyle followed.

"Don't play innocent." His voice was tight now. "I know you've been doing everything possible to stay away. And I don't like it."

"Just let me get to class in peace." Bella whined. "Leave me alone for crying out loud! Can't you take a hint?" After those words, Kyle grabbed her wrist and yanked her down a side hall and into an empty classroom. "Kyle let go of me!" Bella cried but he was already closing the door behind him. "What do you think you're doing?" Bella pointed to the door. "You let me out now!"

"We are going to have a little talk." Kyle purred.

"I don't have anything to say to you," Bella stepped forward, "except 'back off'!"

"Shut up!" Kyle growled. "You are my girlfriend and I don't like to be spoken to like that!"

"I am not your girlfriend!" Bella hissed. "I broke up with you because you act like this!"

"I'm the best thing that ever happened to you! There was a time not too long ago when you were drooling over me and wishing I would ask you to the dance!" Kyle reminded me.

"I don't have time for this." Bella's eyes darted around the room, looking for another exit. "I broke up with you, end of story."

"I don't like that story." Kyle stepped forward and grabbed Bella's arm, squeezing it tightly.

"Ouch!" Bella tried to wiggle free. "Don't touch me!" Even though Bella was a football player and she was strong, Kyle was stronger. He did sports too and it was hard for Bella to fight when she was scared. She was scared out of her mind now.

"My story goes something like this: you adore me and stay with me forever." Kyle painted a picture in Bella's mind.

"Why?" Bella's voice grew strained. Kyle was still gripping her arm. It was turning white as all the circulation was going away. "At the dance you didn't seem crazy about me or anything. You were perfectly happy dating any girl. So now why are you so obsessed with having me?"

"Because you are a woman." Kyle whispered. At first, Bella didn't understand. Then slowly it dawned on her. But that couldn't be right. Kyle couldn't think something like that.

"You mean you want me because I'm more mature than other girls?" Bella's voice shook.

"Mature in what way?" he wiggled his eyebrows. Then Bella saw it clearly. Kyle liked her because of her mature body. For junior high, she was ahead of most girls. Her breasts were bigger, more apparent. Her curves more refined. Then she remembered something else. Kyle had started to have an interest in her right around the time she got her…..period! No! It couldn't be! How would he know about that?! "Yes I knew about your monthly friend." Kyle read her mind now. Bella gasped.

"You are a total creep!" she cried. Before she could even think Kyle was raising his hand and letting it fly down to her face. Bella was tough. She could take a slap. It stung, but she wasn't going to cry. She was more infuriated. Kyle wanted to take advantage of her! Just because of how she looked! It was so unfair! Then they heard voices in the hall and froze. Kyle's eyes grew wide and Bella could tell he was listening very intently to hear whether the voices were a threat. "I'm going to let go now and you are going to be quiet." Kyle told her, giving her a steely look. "And then we are going to leave silently. You are going to go to class and tell the teacher you were at the office getting advil for a headache."

"I will do no such thing." Bella huffed. "I'm going to the office alright! I'm going straight to the principal to tell him what you did!" Kyle laughed.

"No you won't." he shook his head. "Because if you tell the principal about all of this, I'll tell everyone your secret."

"What secret?" Bella didn't know what he was talking about.

"THE secret." He gave her a look. Bella's eyes grew wide. Oh no he didn't!

"You are not serious!" she cried.

"Sh!" Kyle glanced back at the door. "Yes I am. I will make sure the whole school knows. You can't tell anyone what's happening, and I will find out if you do, or your secret is spilled. "I'll be around." And with that Kyle left Bella standing alone in the empty, dark classroom wondering how she had gotten herself into this mess.

**You're probably wondering what the secret is. I promise you one day you will find out. But for now this is suspense. I have to keep writing Kyle chapters to keep the story plot right so deal with the creep for a while. **


	8. Sawyer Suspects

Chapter Eight

Bella ran through the halls, trying not to cry. She was tough. She was Bella Dawson. Nothing scared her. She was her father's son that he never had. She was her mother's protection and support. She was not going to cry because some boy was harassing her. Even if he had hit her, it hadn't hurt that badly. Besides, if her secret was on the line it was best not to say anything. No one could hear about that, especially Sawyer. If he found out….if anyone found out….she'd have to switch schools or move or something!

"Bella." A voice called from behind her. The halls were empty and her name echoed off the bare walls. Bella turned. It was a girl named Kathy walking towards her. Kathy had been in Bella's class for three years and the girls were friendly acquaintances.

"Hey." Bella wiped at her face to erase the tear streaks. "What's up?" Kathy fell into step beside her.

"I'm on my way to the office." Kathy held up an envelope. "Something to deliver to the guidance counselor."

"Mm." Bella nodded and tried to look away.

"Speaking of the guidance counselor," Kathy peered around at Bella's face, "do you need to see her? You don't look too good. Have you been crying?" Kathy stepped in front of Bella and they both stopped. Kathy was a tough, straightforward girl. If Kathy found out, she would march Bella straight to the office and have her spill the whole story.

"No, just allergies." Bella lied and waved off the idea. "I was on my way to the bathroom." Bella motioned to the girls' bathroom that was coming up on their left as they fell into walking again. "See ya, Kathy." Bella waved and ducked into the bathroom without looking back. Luckily, the restroom was empty and Bella gladly walked over to the mirror over the sinks and examined her eye. It wasn't bruised at least yet. That was good. She didn't want questions. She took a cool, wet paper towel and wiped it over her face to give her a fresh, calm look. Her tear streaks were gone. She sighed and took staggering breaths as she mentally rested herself after the confrontation with Kyle. She felt sick to her stomach. Maybe she should go to the office and lie down. No no. Somebody would ask where she had been and why she wasn't in her class. Better to go back to class and make something up.

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"Bella!" Sawyer's hand came down hard on Bella's shoulder. She jumped and turned to face him. She couldn't help feeling like Kyle was lurking around every corner, waiting to grab her.

"Don't do that!" she snapped at him, causing a few heads to turn their way. School was out and Bella was by her locker, students flowing past her to their many after school areas.

"Sorry." Sawyer held up both of his hands and backed away. Bella's shoulders sagged. The adrenaline that had started racing seeped out of her body. Then she remembered her plans with Sawyer.

"I'm going home with you today." Bella spoke aloud as she spotted her riding boots in the back of her locker.

"Yeah. Did you forget?" Sawyer tried to look at her face but Bella turned away. She knew her eye wasn't bruising, but she felt like she had a big sign plastered to her forehead that read: 'Kyle is abusing me!'.

"No I didn't." Bella sighed. All of a sudden she felt like bursting into tears. She couldn't go home with Sawyer. She needed to go home and lock herself in her room and cry and sort through what happened today. Maybe she'd call Sophie or Pepper or both of them. She couldn't possibly enjoy herself if she went with Sawyer anyways. She'd be too distracted. "Sawyer I can't go home with you today." Bella turned to face him. She sighed as she saw his face fell. She hated to disappoint people.

"Why?" Sawyer leaned up against the lockers next to hers. "Honestly Bella you're not going to be intruding."

"I need to go home." Bella's voice was getting tighter and more forced. "Now."

"Is everything ok?" Sawyer started to look concerned. "Are you feeling sick?"

"No everything is not ok!" Bella slammed her locker shut. Sawyer straightened up at the sharp crack of noise. "I need to go home right now." Bella stated again.

"You don't have to stay late at my house." Sawyer offered. "We could drop you home as soon as you'd like." Bella looked at Sawyer and felt a mix of emotions running through her. She was sad that she was ditching him, angry that he was asking so many questions and being too persistent, and happy that he cared.

"Sorry Sawyer but can we reschedule. I really have to be home tonight." Bella began to walk to the front doors of the school. Sawyer followed.

"It's no problem rescheduling." He began to walk with her. "I'm just worried about you."

"Well stop it." Bella stopped and faced him. He stopped with her and piles of students flowed around them as they looked at each other. "I can worry about myself. Besides, you don't have to worry about anything. I'm doing just fine."

"Why'd you skip fifth period?" Sawyer blurted out. Bella froze. Her heart rate picked up and she tried to think fast. Sawyer just stood there looking at her. When Bella couldn't answer him he gave a dry laugh. "Look," he put a hand on her shoulder, "I know you Bella Dawson. I know you're not standing me up or just ditching me for the heck of it. And I also know that you don't skip. So something is up. What I thought I knew was that you would tell me if something was bothering you. But I guess I don't know you as well as I thought." Sawyer shook his head and jogged out of the school. Bella watched him go, wanting to call to him and explain everything, but her throat clogged up and her mouth closed shut when she saw Kyle looking at her from the top of the stairs. She gave him a steely glare, straightened her shoulders, and hurried out of the building.


	9. Makeup Coverup

Chapter Nine

Bella sat on her bed and listened to her calm music playlist while she did homework. After she had left school and started to walk home, all the stress of the day caught up with her and silent sobs racked her body and jerky sniffles and sharp inhales were her background noise as her eyes welled with tears, making the sidewalk unclear. How could she have let this happen? She was the strong Bella Dawson. No one bossed her around or told her what to do. She was independent and spoke for herself. So how had she ended up under Kyle's thumb like that? Her phone began to ring and Bella slipped it out of the pocket of her jeans. It was Sophie. Bella denied the call. She never denied Sophie's calls but today was different. Sophie would hear something was wrong and have the words out of Bella in two minutes. And Bella couldn't tell anyone or her secret would be revealed….starting with Sawyer.

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"I just don't know." Sawyer groaned as he turned back to Troy. After Bella had ditched him, Sawyer had invited Troy over. Troy was now sitting on an overturned bucket while Sawyer did chores around the barn. "Bella doesn't do stuff like that."

"Are you sure she wasn't sick?" Troy looked up from his phone.

"She insisted she wasn't." Sawyer turned back to the horse he had been brushing and began to pick up each hoof to check for rocks in the shoes. "But she didn't look so good."

"I bet you she's on her period." Troy spoke up bluntly. Sawyer stiffened. Was Bella old enough for…..she must be. His eyes widened for a moment. Period. That meant she could have kids. His heart jumped. Bella Dawson could have kids if she wanted. That thought was one of the weirdest that had ever crossed his mind. He refocused himself.

"Mmmm." Sawyer gave an unconvinced noise.

"Well think dude. Riding a horse can't be that comfortable with all that going on in your pants." Troy shook his head.

"Thank you for that." Sawyer shuddered. "Maybe you're right. Maybe it's nothing to worry about."

"Besides, Sophie says that Bella gets sick every time she gets it so that would explain the looking sick part." Troy was texting now and sounded a bit bored.

"Sophie talks to you about Bella's…." Sawyer didn't finish.

"All girls talk about to other people. One day I saw Bella running to the bathroom and so I got Sophie and she came back out saying that Bella gets sick when she's on her period. She said some girls just have that." Troy shrugged.

"Did you find all this out from Sophie?" Sawyer was amazed.

"Dude," Troy gave Sawyer a look, "I have three older sisters. I wasn't born yesterday."

"Right right." Sawyer nodded. The truth was, Sawyer really wasn't up to date with all that girl stuff. "Maybe I should call." He thought out loud.

"Bad idea." Troy stood up and shook his head. "Never annoy a girl. Just leave her alone, Sawyer. She probably just needed to take care of something that she forgot. Not everyone goes into details about what they're doing."

"True." Sawyer tried to calm himself down. Bella was fine. She had a life too after all.

"Besides I mean things are probably really awkward with you now for her." Troy added.

"Why?" Sawyer grew interested.

"I mean, you took Pepper to the homecoming dance last weekend." Troy reminded him. "Being alone with you might upset Pepper."

"But I don't like Pepper." Sawyer blurted. Troy gave him a look. "I mean she's fine, but I took her as friends. I hope she didn't think it was anything else."

"I think she has her eye on the baseball team captain now anyways." Troy waved off the idea of Pepper getting romantically interested in Sawyer.

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Bella wanted so badly to skip school. Really another run in with Kyle was not what she needed. She had checked her face in the mirror that morning and saw her eye starting to bruise. She had two options: cover it up or go out with it and make up some story about running into a pole or something. She chose to brave school and wear the makeup. Kyle didn't have that much influence over her…..yet.

"Morning." Bella's mom was at the kitchen table reading the paper when Bella walked in for breakfast.

"Hey." Bella tried not to look at her mom. Bella was a terrible liar and even though she wasn't lying by covering the bruise, she wasn't telling the truth either.

"What do you want? I think I saw some Fruit Loops in the back of the cupboard. Though those might be stale. Maybe just some toast. I could do some eggs. But then that might make you late. What sounds good?" Bella's mom stood up and walked over to the sink to rinse out her coffee mug.

"I think I'll just stick with a banana." Bella walked over to the fruit tray and grabbed a small sugar banana from the bowl and began to peel it slowly.

"Nuh uh." Mrs. Dawson shook her head. "You have to eat more than that. You won't be able to think right without something nutritional."

"Bananas are nutritional." Bella protested.

"Then at least have some orange juice or something with it."

"I'll bring a protein bar to school with me." Bella walked into the pantry and grabbed a Nugo bar to put in her backpack. She didn't plan on eating it.

"Ok go get some shoes on, we need to leave." Bella's mom called from the dining room where she was straightening the table cloth.

"K!" Bella called and trotted out of the pantry and past the dining room and into the foyer. She jogged past her mom on the way to the stairs.

"Hey." Bella's mom stopped her. "Did you get sunburned?" she peered curiously at Bella's face. Bella's heart rate picked up. Her eyes were still red and puffy from crying. She thought it hadn't been that noticeable.

"Probably." Bella mumbled. "I walked home yesterday."

"It was cloudy yesterday." Bella's mom was still looking at her.

"I don't know."

"Can't imagine how that happened."

"Mom, we'll be late." Bella muttered.

"Ok ok sorry!" she held up her hands and went to grab the car keys. Bella breathed a sigh of relief that had been close. When she got upstairs to her room she dashed some extra makeup on around her eyes. No more close calls. She yanked her shoes on and raced down the stairs and to the garage.

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"Are you wearing makeup?" was the first thing Pepper asked when she climbed into the car next to Bella. Bella was Pepper's morning ride to school.

"Yeah so?" Bella could see her mom's eyes on her in the rearview mirror. "I've worn makeup before."

"I guess." Pepper buckled herself in and unlocked her phone. "You look good. But if I were you I'd tone it down tomorrow. It's a little heavy around the eyes."

"Shut up." Bella hissed to herself. "Pepper, stop talking." Bella was watching her mom listen to what Pepper was saying. Well this day was going well. "I hear you have a crush on the baseball guy." Bella tried to distract Pepper from the makeup conversation. It worked.

"How did you hear that?" Pepper gasped.

"The whole school knows." Bella giggled. It was a fake giggle, but she didn't want Pepper getting suspicious about anything else.

"I hope I didn't hurt Sawyer's feelings." Pepper cried. "I mean we went to the dance together, but really only as friends."

"I'm sure he'll understand. He's probably already heard about it by now anyways." Bella patted Pepper's shoulder.

"Oh how do these things spread so fast?" she asked herself.

"Teens survive on gossip." Bella replied knowledgably.

"This is true." She gave a sad nod.

"So why do you like what's-his-name?" Bella referred to the baseball captain.

"Evan?" she giggled. "He's cute. And funny. And athletic. He's smart too. He's in my math class and he finishes the assignments before everyone. And romantic too. He's in drama and I hear he's just the best actor."

"The whole package." Bella clucked her tongue. "Do you know if he likes you?"

"No. I wish I knew. But he's not in many of my classes and I hardly ever see him. I mostly see him when I go out to watch them practice. And then how would he notice me? And even if he did it's not like he can say something."

"Give it time. Maybe he likes you too." Bella wasn't even listening anymore. She was just rattling off what sounded good and helpful while she watched houses go by and mentally began to brace herself for the day. She began to make a game plan in her head.

"First I'll go straight to my locker." She thought to herself. "No stops on the way. I'll always stay around people so I'm never alone. I'll get to class on time. I'll go straight home. No trouble."

"Bella?" Pepper called.

"What?" Bella looked over at her.

"So? What do you think?" Pepper was looking at her expectantly.

"Think about what?" Bella straightened up.

"About getting Evan's phone number? Did my plan sound good? Were you even listening?"

"I was listening." Bella defended herself.

"Sure you were." Pepper looked a little annoyed but mostly amused. "Someday I'm going to say something really truly important and you won't even know what's going on."


	10. I Didn't Ask You to Be

Chapter Ten

Bella's POV:

"You're wearing makeup." Sophie tapped my shoulder as she walked over to Pepper and I where we were standing by our lockers.

"Yeah." I shrugged. "Your point?" My voice had a snotty edge to it and I saw that Sophie noticed it. Her eyebrows drew together in a concerned look.

"I told her that next time she should use less." Pepper explained to Sophie. Sophie nodded but kept giving me weird looks. "Well I should be going." Pepper looked at her watch. "Have fun in Chemistry." She waved to us and hurried off down the hall.

"Ready?" Sophie asked and checked her phone for the time.

"I guess so." I sighed, right as Sawyer walked around the corner.

"Bella!" he called when he saw me. I mentally groaned. No. I didn't want questions about why I had canceled our plans.

"Hey." I waved weakly.

"Hey." He was breathing heavily as he walked over to us. "I needed to talk to you."

"Look, Sophie and I are about to be late." I gestured behind me.

"I'll make up something to tell Mr. Gainsworth." Sophie nodded and turned to leave. Thanks a lot, Sophie.

"So dare I ask again why you canceled our plans?" he look completely terrified of what I might do. Like I'd start swinging on him or something.

"No, you don't dare." I muttered.

"Come on, Bella. I know you weren't sick."

"Just mind your own business." I growled harshly. I saw his eyes widen a bit. What had I become? But I mean, what else was I supposed to do? It was the whole 'fight or flight' thing. I had to protect myself. I had to keep everyone out of my business, not reveal anything, and just deal. I was the quarterback! I was fifteen years old! I could handle myself. Sawyer reached up and scratched the back of his head, then cleared his throat.

"I thought you should see this," he sighed and handed me a crumpled paper. I took it gingerly and unfolded it. His name was at the top and a bunch of unfinished math problems lined the page. It was covered in red marks.

"Oh Sawyer." I sighed, my heart melting when I realized that I wasn't the only one with problems. I mentally kicked myself for being so selfish.

"Don't get all sad," he shook his head, "it's nothing new. I just thought I'd show you that I'm obviously a lost cause on the whole math thing."

"You are not a lost cause!" I cried. "If you keep saying that to yourself, it's no wonder you keep getting grades like this. You have to believe you can, before you actually do."

"Bella, some people just don't have the motivation." He shrugged lightly.

"Then why bother showing me this?" I sighed in frustration.

"I'm trying to ask you for more help without getting yelled at. Kind of like you just did." Sawyer looked at me bashfully. "But you haven't seemed like you really want to spend time with us, so I didn't want to make you angry."

"I'm not angry." I sighed and handed him his paper back. Then I gently pushed my hair off my forehead. I didn't need this. I was so tired. Just plain sick of everything. I needed a two year vacation from everyone and everything. But Sawyer was my friend. And he was seriously going to fail if I didn't help him. "Why don't you ask Troy or someone for help?" I asked as a last resort.

"Bella, if you don't want to help me, just say so." He frowned. Oh no. Not now. Not this. He was getting upset. But I wasn't trying to do anything! Just….BLAH!

"No, Sawyer, that's not what I-"

"Bella, I don't know what is going on with you, but whatever it is, you can tell me. It's obviously bothering you."

"No I can't tell you!" I exploded. "You don't understand! You could never understand!"

"Bella, at least tell Sophie or Pepper. We've all been worried about you." He reached out to put his hand on my arm and I back away quickly, thoughts of Kyle flashing through my mind.

"Stop. Don't touch me." I pleaded. He drew his hand back and his eyes shined with concern.

"Ok." He dug his hands into his pockets. "Sorry."

"Look, Sawyer, it's nothing personal." I tried again.

"Are you wearing makeup?" he asked all of a sudden and peered closer at my face. I tried to keep my temper under control. I tried to remind myself that he was only trying to be helpful, he wasn't aware of anything.

"Yes." I mumbled and ducked my head.

"Bella, why are you acting like this? I'm here for you."

"I didn't ask you to be!" I cried. We both fell silent. I couldn't believe I had just said that. I looked down at my feet, tears surfacing in my eyes. I wouldn't let him see me cry.

"I see." His voice was low and tight. "Take care, Bella." He turned and walked briskly down the hall. I watched him go, watched him walk off down the hall, leaving me standing alone in the silent path of lockers. I had to go. Couldn't be left out here for someone to bother me. Someone like Kyle. My body tensed at the thought and I hurried myself to Chemistry.

0000000000000000000

As soon as the lunch bell rang I was at my locker. I found my phone and immediately dialed home, praying my mom wasn't at some meeting or out with friends. She picked up at the fourth ring.

"Bella?"

"Hey." I tried to sound sickish.

"What's wrong? Are you sick?"

"I'm not feeling so great." I pretended. "Are you at home?"

"Yeah, just got back from my garden club meeting." I thanked my lucky stars.

"Do you think you could come get me?" I pleaded.

"Of course. I'll be there in ten minutes." She promised and hung up. I was so relieved I felt like falling down on the floor and crying, but instead I began to pack up my books in my backpack and collect my things for home.

"It's lunch, Bella. What's with all the stuff?" Pepper asked as she and Sophie bounced up to me.

"I'm going home." I put a forlorn look on my face. "Don't feel good."

"What did you and Sawyer talk about this morning?" Sophie cut off my pity party. I groaned inwardly.

"Nothing important." I shrugged.

"He seemed pretty upset in Lit class." Sophie crossed her arms.

"I'll talk to you guys later." I shut my locker firmly and made my way to the front office to sign out.


End file.
